Free General Vang Pao!

In short, General Vang was on our side in Laos during the Vietnam War. As many as 30,000 Laotian people died at this time, and the country eventually fell into communist hands. Today, Laos is widely known for the human rights abuses that go on there. Many Laotian people immigrated to the Central Valley here in California, and many consider General Vang a hero. General Vang was trying to put together a group to potentially take back his country from the communist regime. They had collected money and arms. Last week, this group was arrested for plotting to overthrow another country’s government.

The question that needs to be asked is what was general Vang doing differently than say, President Kennedy with Cuba in the early 1960’s. The law states that plotting to overthrow another government that we are not currently in conflict with is a crime. Again, what is the difference? Finally, I ask, why should it be a crime to overthrow any communist government? I think that if most Americans were asked if they agree or disagree with the intentions of General Vang, and know the history of this situation, you would get an overwhelming response of agreement.

I believe in this country and respect its laws, but in this situation, we are wrongly prosecuting General Vang Pao. It is time to let the General free and move on to more important issues.